Adding to my wardrobe, thrift shopping, and zucchini bread

I registered my kids in high school today. My daughter is a sophomore and my youngest son is a...*gasp*...senior. And to answer your question, yes, I totally got emotional! My babies are growing up way too fast! Where in the world did the time go? What happened to filling cartoon character and superhero backpacks full of all those cutesy school supplies? *sigh*

After registering the monkeys and getting the boy's hair cut, we shot over to Wal-Mart. I've been slowly adding to my wardrobe, but frankly, buying true vintage can get quite expensive. Soooo, I've been making my own. (someday I'll post Outfit Of The Day). Here's the pattern I bought today:

I don't really have any circle skirts (although I have a couple dresses with the fuller skirts), so I decided to remedy that! I haven't bought the fabric yet, but I promise to post as soon as I find what I want. I'll probably make a few at one time so I have a good variety.

Now, I should totally be fabric hunting, but instead, I'm utilizing the last of my zucchinis for the summer. (I got sick for over a week and my squash and zucchini plants died since no one was taking care of them!) I currently have loaves 3 and 4 in the oven.

Yep, four loaves of zucchini bread from one zucchini! Once those are cooled I'll make some more and pop them in the freezer. How awesome will it be on cool autumn days or days when the kids and I are snowed in to run out and grab some comfort food straight from our freezer? Of course, I made these loaves wearing one of my sweet aprons. (Man, I really need to start taking some more pics!)

On another note, my mom and I took the kids thrift store shopping for some school clothes (hate buying a whole new wardrobe because it's hot for the first couple months, and my daughter is growing way too fast to buy anything too far in advance!) Check out this sweet dress I got for about $10!

I know the shoes are hideous, but they're all I have other than black flats, black heels, black knee high boots, and tennis shoes! I REALLY need some flats in different colors and some kitten heels!

That's it for today! I LOVE seeing what you've been adding to your wardrobes! Feel free to share you blogs with me so I can go stalk your pages!

Thanksgiving, Family Traditions, and Black Friday....

When I was younger, even at 18, stores were closed on the holidays. Any year on Thanksgiving, when traveling to a relative's house, there would be hardly any cars on the road, and shopping centers resembled ghost towns. It was a serene feeling. There was that part of my brain - the part that romanticizes - that pictured every family circled around their tables, laughing and talking over turkey and gravy.

Fast forward to November 29, 2013. This year more and more stores stayed open on Thanksgiving (my mom worked yesterday and wasn't able to join us), and the yearly Black Friday sale moved from 6am on Friday (as it was when I was young) to as early as 6pm last night. I got curious; the kids and I hopped into the minivan and drove to the local Walmart and a local shopping center. It. Was. RIDICULOUS! There was a heavy police presence at Walmart, and people were parking in nearby parking lots because there was no more space. At the shopping center people were lined up in the cold out side of Target.

Today, I've viewed dozens of videos of the brew haha that is Black Friday. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! People were fist fighting, screaming at each other, trampling people to get to a sale. What happened to spending time with your family? Do these people not realize that if you encourage stores to stay open others will follow suit and we'll ALL eventually be working on the holidays? Hmmmm, I wonder how many of you just read that and thought "I didn't think of it that way." I am a stickler for tradition and believe that everyone (obviously first responders don't have the same choice) should be with their families, NOT out shopping for a discount. I mean, did any of those people who shoved others down and injured people (anyone remember the child who was trampled to death?) really need a new TV, an iPad, or whatever?

Can we, as a society, agree to respect traditions, holidays, and common courtesy? Okay, I'm into deals and bargains, but how about everyone realize these sales are NOT what they seem. How many times have you heard stories of people standing in the cold for hours only to find whatever it was they came for was no longer there? They only have a limited supply of these bargain deals! It's a ploy to get you into the store to spend more money when you would normally be hunkered down in front of the football game moaning in agony from an overstuffed belly!

Am I being old fashioned? Maybe I'm becoming that old curmudgeon! I don't know...either way, you'll never catch me shoving someone to the ground to save money on something I would never buy anyway!